Thank you for (permission for) the music

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report — "Thank you for (permission for) the music"
February 9, 2026
Host: Sabri Benishour (for David Brancaccio)

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Episode Overview

This rapid-fire episode of Marketplace Morning Report brings listeners up to date on overnight business and economic news in under ten minutes. The main themes include the surprising impact of copyright law on the Winter Olympics, a shift in Japan’s political and market outlook, and an in-depth look at how Maine’s fishing industry is adapting to climate change. The tone is brisk, informative, and curious, with expert insights packed into concise segments.

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Copyright Law Meets the Olympics: Figure Skaters Scramble

Segment starts: 00:54

Main Points:

• Recent changes to Olympic rules have let figure skaters use popular music—but copyright law complicates things.
• In the current Winter Olympics, athletes have had to abandon routines last-minute due to denied music rights.
• Securing permissions is complex and can involve negotiating with many stakeholders.

Key Insights:

• "In order to use music outside of just listening to it for personal pleasure... you need permission from the artists and all of the writers."
  — Chantal Epp, CEO of Click and Clear [01:49]
• Hit songs typically involve negotiations with at least ten entities: "On average, a hit song can have nine different writers plus one record label."
  — Graeme Sherwood [02:07]
• Costs for licensing vary widely: "It could be as low as in the hundreds, or it could be as high as thousands or hundreds of thousands."
  — Benham Plum, licensing expert [02:39]
• While arduous, the process ensures artists and creators are fairly paid.

Memorable Moment:

• The episode references Olympic skater Nathan Chen’s memorable performance to a remix of "Benny and the Jets"—a moment illustrating music’s growing role in the sport.

Expert Voices:

• Chantal Epp (Click and Clear)
• Benham Plum (University of the Pacific)

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Japan’s Election: Economic Winds Shift

Segment starts: 02:53

Main Points:

• Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takechi and her Liberal Democratic Party won a historic two-thirds majority—the first since 1947.
• Markets rallied: The Nikkei 225 hit a record high, buoyed by investor optimism around anticipated stimulus.
• Takechi’s administration is expected to spend heavily on defense, AI, and semiconductor industries.
• The so-called “Takechi trade” both boosts Japanese stocks but pressures government bonds and the yen.

Quote Highlight:

• "Ms. Takeichi’s large majority will help to ensure that Japan implements stable economic policies over the next five years."
  — Stuart Clarkson, BBC [03:18]

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Climate Change Reshapes Fishing in the Gulf of Maine

Segment starts: 05:21

Main Points:

• The Gulf of Maine, a vital fishing hub, is heating faster than most ocean regions, impacting available species.
• Shrimp populations have plummeted; a fishing ban extends through at least 2028.
• Lobster landings hit a record in 2016, but there are signs the warming trend is starting to affect even lobsters.
• Traditional groundfish, like Atlantic cod, are also suffering historic declines.
• Some species, such as river herring (alewife), are rebounding thanks to habitat restoration, offering new economic opportunities.

Key Quotes:

• "The fishing industry in Maine looks like lobsters... No shrimping, but lobsters is kind of where it's at."
  — Graeme Sherwood [06:03]
• “I do not [think shrimping will return]. We have seen this warming trend sort of persisting over the last couple decades... there's no reason to expect that trend to come back anytime soon."
  — Graeme Sherwood [06:47]
• "If we could actually match up where those fish are going to basically avoid the warm waters and then also have access to food such as alewife, that could actually be a win-win situation."
  — Graeme Sherwood [08:12]

Expert Voice:

• Graeme Sherwood, Senior Scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "In order to use music outside of just listening to it for personal pleasure... you need permission from the artists and all of the writers to use that music."
  — Chantal Epp [01:49]
• "On average, a hit song can have nine different writers plus one record label, so at least 10 potential people to negotiate with."
  — Chantal Epp / Graeme Sherwood [02:07]
• "It could be as low as in the hundreds, or it could be as high as thousands or hundreds of thousands."
  — Benham Plum [02:39]
• "The fishing industry in Maine looks like lobsters... No shrimping, but lobsters is kind of where it's at."
  — Graeme Sherwood [06:03]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:54 – Figure Skating and Copyright at the Olympics
• 02:53 – Japanese Election and Market Impact
• 05:21 – Climate Change and Maine's Fishing Economy

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Conclusion

This episode deftly weaves immediate business headlines with thoughtful reporting on long-term industry trends, using expert commentary and clear examples. Listeners come away up-to-date and better informed about the unseen business stories behind the morning’s news.

Transcript

[Marketplace Host]

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[Sabri Benishour]

Copyright law is not an Olympic sport, but athletes are having to compete in it anyway. From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Benishour in for David Brancaccio. Twice now in this Winter Olympics, figure skaters have had to rethink their routines at the last minute because of copyright law. The music they wanted to skate to and have been practicing skating to is copyrighted and the athletes were told could not be used. One of those skaters has since secured the rights. Marketplace's Carla Javier looked into the complicated world of sports and and music.

[Chantal Epp]

For years, figure skaters tended to use a lot of classical music, but in 2014, the rules loosened and skaters started picking some hits. Here's Nathan Chen skating to a remix of Benny and the jets at the 2022 Games. The thing is, in order to use.

[Graeme Sherwood]

Music outside of just listening to it for personal pleasure or in the background in a in a public venue, you need permission from the artists and all of the writers to use that music.

[Chantal Epp]

That's Chantal Epp, CEO of Click and Clear, which helps athletes navigate this whole permission process.

[Graeme Sherwood]

Now, on average, a hit song can have nine different writers plus one record.

[Chantal Epp]

Label, so at least 10 potential people to negotiate with. Epps Co. Has a library of pre cleared music, including some of the Minions songs. Other songs are negotiated case by case, including other minion songs. Benham Plum is a former licensing executive now at the University of the Pacific.

[Graeme Sherwood]

Lord, it's just too much for an athlete to handle on their own.

[Chantal Epp]

In many cases, Plum says, it might just come down to the rate.

[Graeme Sherwood]

It could be as low as in the hundreds, or it could be as high as thousands or hundreds of thousands.

[Chantal Epp]

But Plum says the process is important because it ensures the creators and artists get paid for their work. Carla I'm Carla Javier from Marketplace.

[Sabri Benishour]

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takechi is now armed with a mandate to spend. Her Liberal Democratic Party won a massive victory, a 2/3 super majority in elections over the weekend, first time that's happened since 1947. The result sent Japanese stocks up and bond yields too, as investors expect more borrowing to pay for promised spend spending. The BBC's Stuart Clarkson has more Sanae.

[Stuart Clarkson]

Takechi's landslide re election as Japanese prime minister has been welcomed by investors. The country's Nikkei 225 jumped 5% at one point on Monday, reaching 57,000 for the first time in its history. Investors say Ms. Takeichi's large majority will help to ensure that Japan implements stable economic policies over the next five years. Since she became the nation's first female premier in October, the so called Takechi trade has pushed domestic shares in Japan to record highs, but also caused a rapid sell off in Japanese government bonds and the value of the yen. Her government's pledge to spend heavily to stimulate the economy with things such as defence, artificial intelligence and chips being singled out by Ms. Takechi for investment, I'm the BBC's Stuart Clarkson for Marketplace.

[Marketplace Host]

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[Sabri Benishour]

Every so often we take the pulse of the economy by talking to some of the people in it. Today we're talking about fish. The Gulf of Maine is the heart of a vibrant fishing industry, one that is being reshaped by climate change. The Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest warming ocean regions in the world that has dragged down the shrimp population there so much that regulators banned catching them through at least 2028. But nature and fishermen are adapting. Graeme Sherwood is a senior scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and is here to talk about it. Welcome.

[Graeme Sherwood]

Thank you.

[Sabri Benishour]

So we're a decade into this moratorium on shrimping. What does the fishing industry in Maine look like today?

[Graeme Sherwood]

The fishing industry in Maine looks like lobsters. There's some ground fishing, no shrimping, but lobsters is kind of where it's at.

[Sabri Benishour]

What is lobster fishing like, given changing climate?

[Graeme Sherwood]

So we've seen a rise in lobster landings over the last couple decades, and it actually hit a maximum in 2016. And that could be related somewhat to warming. Actually, it increased some of their productivity. What we've seen over the last 10 years or so is a little bit of coming back from that. And it might seem like it's getting too warm for lobsters, but I should mention the lobsters are still a highly valuable fishery in the United States.

[Sabri Benishour]

Do you think shrimp fishing will ever realistically return to Maine waters? I mean, this moratorium goes till 2028 now.

[Graeme Sherwood]

I do not. We have seen this warming trend sort of persisting over the last couple decades. Now, certainly there's a lot of variability, but if we look at the long term trend, we're actually seeing the Gulf of Maine warming faster than most areas of the globe. So there's no reason to expect that trend to come back anytime soon.

[Sabri Benishour]

Zooming out, looking kind of generally at the different species that we rely on commercially or can rely on commercially, which ones are doing better, which ones are doing worse. As the climate changes, we're starting to.

[Graeme Sherwood]

See indications that it might be warming too much for lobsters. Although lobsters as an industry is still doing very well. The history of the Gulf of Maine is sort of centered around a lot of groundfish species, like Atlantic cod. Cod is more or less feeling the same kind of effects of warming as the shrimp, and we've seen their populations decline to historically low levels. We're also seeing some bright spots in terms of recovery. There's been a lot of habitat restoration efforts, mostly to remove dams and rivers. And what that has led to is a resurgence of river herring, particularly a species known as alewife, which is a silvery fish that's food for many other species in the ocean. Any kind of silvery fish in the Gulf of Maine is a potential bait fish for the lobster industry. And so there is potential economic value in that. And also should mention that the Gulf of Maine is warming quite fast. But there are areas in the Gulf of Maine that are still remaining relatively cold and could support these cold water fisheries, such as Atlantic cod. And so if we could actually match up where those fish are going to basically avoid the warm waters and then also have access to food such as alewife, that could actually be a win, win situation.

[Sabri Benishour]

Graham Sherwood is a senior scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Thank you so much for joining us.

[Graeme Sherwood]

Thank you.

[Sabri Benishour]

In New York, I'm Sabri Benishour with the Marketplace Morning Report. From apm American Public Media. Want even more Marketplace?

[Marketplace Host]

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